Thread: how far do deer run

a question for the guys that get out a lot and see shoot lots of deer.Just a rough generalisation how far do they tend to run if you spook them or they see you

In open country on farm land i have seen them do 4km. Depends on how much pressure they have had. Seen bush deer just push a head 50m

Red...200 metres...sika, you ain't gunna see that one again today

depends on thier life experience and where they are....been shot at often and seen mates die...gone like a dog shot up the bum.... open country..wont muck around and will put mile behind them before stopping.... if they smell you its game over. hear you not so much.

Deer in the bush from my exerience and i have spooked shit loads over the years this is what i have found.
If they smell you , they gone, never to be seen again...or that day anyway lol.
If they have seen you well and heard you and take of they be gone as well, best outcome they might travell 50-100m and stop for a look back and maybe you get a chance after that never to be seen again.
If you spook one and they not sure what you are, ie, only heard you or just seen you only they often dont go miles.
Esp yealrings you still have a good chance of catching up with it . Older hinds often stop for a look, may bark and warn other deer of potenial danger and i have shot deer doing this.
Stags tend to just disappear unless its around the roar.
Always believe deer need a couple of sences to trigger their natural ability to high tail it. Just hearing you only or catching your movement only often the deer will only travel a short distance if that.

Whole different story if smell you, they gone, or spook one good and they gone as well. Wouldnt waste your time trying to track one down after its bolted unless its not sure what you were then mayube you have a chance

Depends on hunting pressure, age of animal, and group size. Quite often young ones will stick around and try to figure out what you are. If they scent you they'll be gone for sure, next watershed or major piece of cover. I personally have had young Sika and reds stand and look at me for quite some time before they bolted, sometimes older ones too in low pressure areas. Very hard to put an exact distance on how far they'll bolt.

Sika if they hear you and give a whistle alarm and keep at it, you can close the distance quickly and get a shot away.

Reds in general will move a few hundred meters but sometimes get to higher elevation and feel safe to stop and settle down.

If any species of deer scent you, they are on edge for the rest of the day.

Theres a study done somewhere I remember reading it online, was done on red deer in the Kaimanawas from memory and I think it was an average of 3km they would relocate after being properly spooked. In saying that, a month or so back I came across a Red hind and her young one browsing a broadleaf gut whilst sidling through some bush, she saw me and we had a stare-off for a bit before she shuffled off and gave a couple of disgusted snorts/barks. I walked straight through the spot where they were grazing and didnt bother trying to catch up with them as I aas hoping I might stumble onto a stag, I came back through the exact same area about 3 or 4 hours later and she was back there browsing the broadleaf again! I would asume I had left scent through there but it obviously didnt bother her. All deer are different depending on their life experience, if they get a lot of pressure and their mates keep dissapearing every time they smell human then I imagine they get a bit upset about human smell, but then you will get for example deer living on bush edge near a farm and they wont give two shits about human smell, sounds etc but are still every bit as cautious, they obviously just have different triggers etc and build the picture differently that adds up to danger when something is wrong

When they smell you game over, if they hear you they may bark or whistle but sometimes will hang around long enough for a shot. Deer can be quite noisy when they feed and move about in the bush so they will tolerate a bit of noise by a hunter. In open country they tend to run when they see you and definitely when they smell you. There are always exceptions to the rule so a quick follow up could pay dividends , especially if the animal is a bit on the young side.

We checked our cameras last weekend and seen something interesting. Two sambar deer ran through the clearing and off into the bush, minutes later 3 dogs were following their trail, it didn't end there as about 30 minutes later the big 14 pointer we have been after strolls through the clearing heading the same way the dogs and sambar went and he actually crossed the dogs path. I have always been lead to believe if deer smell dogs they clear out of the area quick smart. Didn't appear to worry this old boy in the time we seen him on the camera.

Sometimes you can practically walk right into the middle of them and do a fucking dance and they still won’t bugger off. Youngish reds, not sure of what I am maybe, even after I’ve shot an older hind. Wind was in my favour. Was wearing the blaze yellow top and Flecktarn trousers. The light was quite a bit worse than the phone camera shows, drizzling. What got the one’s attention was when I switched on the camera the light came on automatically... Could have shot three or four! I actually shouted at these ones in the end, to make them go away. So just goes to show that sometimes they can be incredibly stupid, especially when they’re young.

Originally Posted by deer243

Deer in the bush from my exerience and i have spooked shit loads over the years this is what i have found.
If they smell you , they gone, never to be seen again...or that day anyway lol.
If they have seen you well and heard you and take of they be gone as well, best outcome they might travell 50-100m and stop for a look back and maybe you get a chance after that never to be seen again.
If you spook one and they not sure what you are, ie, only heard you or just seen you only they often dont go miles.
Esp yealrings you still have a good chance of catching up with it . Older hinds often stop for a look, may bark and warn other deer of potenial danger and i have shot deer doing this.
Stags tend to just disappear unless its around the roar.
Always believe deer need a couple of sences to trigger their natural ability to high tail it. Just hearing you only or catching your movement only often the deer will only travel a short distance if that.

Whole different story if smell you, they gone, or spook one good and they gone as well. Wouldnt waste your time trying to track one down after its bolted unless its not sure what you were then mayube you have a chance

^This.last bush hunt I was on I spooked a group of hinds 3 times and shot one on the 4th encounter, each time they heard me and just pushed up the gully head 50-100m the wind was good and I flanked them the last time coming in just above them cutting off there uphill path.

One of my old English Pointer dogs chased a red stag for 2hours down a long valley before cornering it into scrub and killing it.I know because I eventually caught up to it absolutely knackered.

A lot of comes down to how much they have been hunted often when out in the open / scrub once spooked they travel long distances some of them do not even stop for one last look they just keep going even after a couple of k,s and other times they do real stupid things , last year I was watching 6 hinds on this face & decided to shoot a yearling so zoomed the scope in to 18x on the 22-250 for the ultimate shot placement & yep somehow shot the wrong bloody deer turns out likely the lead hind , so me and my mate started off down the hill all the while the other 5 just stood there , when we got to within 30-40 meters of them my mate started to get a little freaked out & I thought this is ridiculous cant have tame deer around here so put a couple of shots over there heads that got them moving !! , bush deer are a bit different I think for a start they are more comfortable in the bush perhaps that's why we can get so close to them at times or they don't fully bolt unless they get a wiff , its a bit like fog out on the tops they tend to linger sometimes for hours longer than they would if the fog wasn't there , bush , scrub , fog = safety , open tops country not so much so they run further .

Thanks for the info often wondered if it's worth chasing them or if one takes off others will take off with it